1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image processing method and a system therefor for reading picture elements to obtain their image data, making up a one-page-image through laying out the picture elements in desired positions to produce image data of the one-page-image, and outputting the image data of the one-page-image.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Recently, in the field of prepress, scanners so-called layout systems have become popular. The layout system is a computer-aided image processing system for page make-up processing; the layout system performs the processing between processings in an input scanning and color-tone correction part and in an image recording part of a color scanner. Such a system is designed to increase the page make-up processing speed and the labor saving effect, and to reduce material consumption.
FIG. 1 shows the conceptual structure of a layout system. The layout system consecutively scans picture elements which will be used in a one-page-image with a reading scanner A1, corrects color tone of the picture elements, and temporarily stores the obtained image data on a magnetic disk A2 as original image data. A layout editor A3 then reads the stored original image data, carries out a page make-up operation and other additional operations as needed, such as color correction of the images, and then stores the page-make-up processed image data on another magnetic disk A4 (or on the same disk A2). The page-make-up processed image data is transmitted to a recording scanner A5 to record the one-page-image on a film.
A layout system is available with a function of image transmission by telecommunication. Such type of a layout system compresses the page-make-up processed image data stored on the magnetic disk A4 by a compression-restoration unit A6, stores the compressed image data on a magnetic disk A7 and transmits the compressed image data to the outside by a communication unit A8.
The conventional layout systems require that the magnetic disks A2 and A4 and the main storage device in the layout editor A3 have capacities for processing a large volume of data. In addition, high-quality representation of a picture image, such as a photograph, needs enormous data. Therefore an ordinary DTP (desk-top publishing) system, using a general-purpose microcomputer or a work station, is not able to form a one-page-image with a high-quality picture element due to insufficient data volume capacity.
Although image data compression processing is known as a technique for reducing data volume in the field of image communication, it has not been found to be efficient enough for application to page-make-up processed image data because the data volume cannot be sufficiently reduced.